Professional Expe​rience

Wealth Management experience is defined as client interaction, whether direct or indirect, in the furtherance of delivering fiduciary services relating to trusts, estates, IRAs, qualified retirement plans, custody and individual asset management accounts. This experience may also include providing specialty services and solutions in one or more administrative, investment management, tax, legal, financial, and estate planning services and solutions. It is recognized that these services can be delivered in an integrated or specialty-focused manner. Please note that experience in employee benefit trust, corporate trust or securities/trust operations, and regulatory compliance does not qualify as wealth management experience.

Ethics Statement

Each candidate must sign ABA Professional Certifications' Code of Ethics statement. Please note: you must furnish all pertinent information about any convictions or pleas of nolo contendere on the grounds of fraud, embezzlement, unfair or deceptive practices, securities law violations, misappropriation of property, fraudulent conversations or any civil or administrative action from which you have been previously found liable.​

Application

​How to Apply

Check the eligibility requirements to determine that you qualify.

Review the available exam dates below.

Purchase the exam. Payment must be made by credit card. (You will be prompted to create a Certification Manager account.)

Complete and submit the application that appears following the purchase.

You will receive an Approval/Denial email from ABA within two weeks after receiving your application, along with additional details about the exam site. If your application is denied, you will receive a refund of your exam fee minus a $100 application fee.

Upon login, the retake options and pricing will display if you have previously taken this exam. After completing your purchase, please complete the retake application and submit by the application due date for the desired exam date.

Knowledge Areas

The CTFA advisory board has determined that a competent trust advisor'professional's expertise includes the following knowledge areas. Please review the CTFA Examination Outline for more specifics.

Fiduciary & Trust Activities

Financial Planning

Tax Law & Planning

Investment Management

Ethics

Study Resources

While ABA recommends these resources as appropriate examination preparation, ABA does not guarantee that you will pass the exam by completing these educational programs or studying these materials alone. The CTFA exam assesses not only your knowledge of the topics on the exam outline, but also your application of that knowledge. You should refer frequently to the CTFA exam outline when preparing for the exam.

Examination Misconduct

All persons taking one of ABA Professional Certifications' examinations are expected to abide by all rules and regulations governing the examination before, during and after the examination. Possession of copies of any current or previous examination given by ABA Professional Certifications (formerly ICB) is not authorized and is a violation of the rules governing certification exams. Persons taking an ABA Professional Certifications examination are not permitted to take notes about the examination.

Any person found to have violated any of the rules governing ABA Professional Certifications exams, or to have conducted themselves in a dishonest or unethical manner with respect to the taking of an ABA Professional Certifications exam is subject to sanctions determined to be appropriate by ABA Professional Certifications, in its sole discretion, including, but not limited to: denial of certification; denial of the right to take any or all ABA Professional Certifications examinations. Answer sheets provided at paper/pencil testing sites determined, before grading, to have been completed by a person who has violated ABA Professional Certifications examination rules will not be graded. We reserve the right to pursue any and all remedies available to it, including legal remedies, with respect to any violation of its examination rules against anyone who violated ABA Professional Certifications examination rules or aided another in violating these rules.